It's Odd, really.

I never thought I'd amount to anything if I'm perfectly honest, yet here I am...

...Standing in front of a screaming crowd.

Screams, laughs, and even a few moans -courtesy of the not-so-private lovers in the crowd of death's minions- erupt into the thick air surrounding my shaking form. Bouncing against the concrete walls of what I can only assume to be a torture chamber of some description.

"HERE WE HAVE THE FAMED BLACK SERPENT!" My supposed executioner yelled, a large man holding a camera stood behind him, adorning a smirk. "You lived as an arrogant bitch, and now the whole world can watch you die." he snickered, raising my head for the camera to see.

"Tch. You're a twitch sponsored streamer, I see." I chuckled dryly, earning a punch in the face and his pulling of my hair to drag my poor head backwards.

"SHE STOLE ANYTHING SHE WANTED, BEAT ANYONE WHO DENIED HER, AND DENIED HELP TO ANYONE DESERVING!!! NOT TO MENTION THE COUNTLESS MEN SHE'S KILLED!!!" He screamed, once more showing my beaten face to the camera.

"Thank you, thank you. I do, do autographs." I winked, and the man dragged me up to the podium on the odd stage-like structure.

"WHO WANTS TO SEE HER SUFFER?!?!" The crowd broke out into raucous laughter and cheers, nothing short of disgusting to witness.

"What? Run out of things to say about me? Turns out you don't last long in anything, then." I chuckled loudly to myself, as did some of the audience.

"You won't be laughing for long, sweetheart. Now you don't have a mask anymore, even if you escape from us, the world knows who you are." He kicked my back to punctuate his sentence, dragging my head up to look out into the audience of animals, and my eyes found him.

Kim Taehyung.

The reason I'm in this mess in the first place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1 Year Earlier

It's Odd, really.

How 2 simple words have the power to both stop and accelerate your heart in the most suffocating yet liberating way possible.

Immediately turning me, (y/n) (l/n), into a literal walking contradiction.

"Get out."

Those were the two words- incase you're wondering- the two words that threw me out of the house and onto the streets.

Out of the old and into the new.

Out of the warmth and into the cold.

Out of the safe and onto the... Streets.

I'm so fucked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whistling a tune, I somehow accomplish the ever so challenging task of somewhat lightening the mood.

I mean, my parents could at least have kicked me out in the morning, as opposed to 6pm. How the fuck am I going to find somewhere to sleep?!

Evidently, the answer to that is I won't- not anywhere suitable, at least.

"Hey, pretty lady, what are you doing out so late?"

Of. Fucking. Course, the tremendously predictable arrival of a -probably- drunk man, who's intentions seem nothing short of vile. Brilliant.

"My original intention was merely to avoid idiots like you prowling the streets, but clearly God hasn't heard my prayers, so I'll be off before this gets too out of hand, if that's okay with you?" I answered, sass dripping from my tone as I sauntered off- or tried to, at least.

He grabbed me by the shoulders, twisting me around and holding me against the wall conveniently placed next to him by my shoulders.

"You're not going anywhere, sweetheart, so why don't we get to know each other?" the alcohol in his breath slapped me in the face with each word.

"As inviting as that sounds, I think I'm fine." I hissed, weaving my right hand through his arms, clasping my left hand and pulling them to the right so his arms were ripped off of me. I then kneed him in the groin and ran off, the large backpack on my back shaking with each step I took.

Once I believed I was far enough, I stopped for a breath and leaned against a wall. I was by a main road now, so no one would attack me, but that didn't mean I wasn't still on high alert.

The sirens in my mind started screaming the second a slow, sarcastic clap sounded from my left- the direction I came from. However, the sirens immediately stopped the second I saw the man who appeared to be gracing me with his presence.

He looked nothing short of God-like.

Soft, tousled brown hair with slight green tints in some strands, warm chocolate brown eyes. A sharp jawline coated in smooth, tan skin, not a single blemish in sight. An adorable freckle adorned the tip of his nose and his slightly plump lips were curved upwards into a smirk.

However, no matter how beautiful he looked, he was the most intimidating person I had ever seen.

"That was quite a show you put on back there, when I was just about to start beating him up, too. Not that I mind, it was quite entertaining." his smirk didn't falter as he brushed back the soft-looking hair to reveal his forehead, perfectly trimmed eyebrows becoming visible, which raised in question at my silent staring.

"Okay? Why did you follow me, and why would you have helped me anyway?" I asked, taking a slightly defensive stance and getting ready to run if I saw fit.

"I find you interesting. Besides, I couldn't let a lovely lady like you get assaulted by a big bad wolf like him, could I?" he taunted, babying me and effectively pissing me off in the process.

"I can handle myself, thank you, but it would be just lovely if you fucked off and left me to my own devices." I turned around, ready to strut off, but he stopped me immediately with his words.

"That's a pretty big bag. You going travelling? Running away like a spoiled brat?" My need to prove him wrong outweighed my desire to run away as fast as possible, so I turned on my heel and sauntered up to the man, who easily towered over my smaller form.

I tried not to let the height difference falter my determination as I prodded his chest with my pointer finger and glared up at him. "No, actually. Believe it or not- sometimes people leave home without a choice." I retorted, both sarcasm and anger coating my accusing words.

"Why did you leave then? Did daddy not buy you a new pair of shoes? This is a pretty rich area, so it's hard to believe they can be that bad." he scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest mockingly.

"If you must know, daddy was never home because he spent too much time with other girls, and mummy hates me because I wasn't good enough for her." I spat, turning to walk away before he grabbed my arm to stop me.

"I know you. You're (y/n) (l/n)." he muttered, sounding like he was in his own world as he did so. I raised a brow, silently asking him to elaborate on his previous statement. "You were in the news last year and I still see you every now and then. You're that musical prodigy, right?" he asked, only earning a nod in response. "Why would you leave?" his voice was now soft.

"I didn't leave, asshole. I was kicked out. They didn't want to deal with my mentally unhealthy ass anymore so they kicked me onto the streets." I answered lowly, trying to rip my arm out of his grip, but to no avail.

"I can give you a home if you like. You know basic self defence and are quite agile and fast. You'd do alright, and could be helpful." he trailed off, his eyes suddenly become darker. "But you'd need to work for me in return."

A multitude of theories as to just whom this guy was ran through my mind as he stepped towards me, closing a small distance I didn't even know had formed and stroked a large hand up my arm, his touch leaving a trail of goosebumps in its journey. He used his left hand to push some hair behind my right ear as he leaned down, his lips tickling my cheek. "What do you say, sweetheart? You in?" I could feel his lips quirk upwards into a cocky smirk before he moved his head from the side of my face and glanced down at my flustered form beneath him.

"I-I... Why me?" I stuttered out, unable to think of any other words in the situation. His hand that brushed my hair aside started gently caressing my cheek.

"You interest me. Nobody's ever spoken back to me like that." he responded, leaning down once more and catching my ear lobe between his teeth, making me tense up. "And I like it."

"What do you do?"

"A lot of things, and once you're in you can't leave." I heard a click of a gun going off of safety from behind him and immediately knew I should have run the second he appeared. "And now you've seen my face and know me, so what'll it be?" his right arm lifted slightly from behind him, and I could tell he had a gun tucked into his trousers that was now in his grasp.

"Who are you?" I whimpered pathetically, feeling my hands start to shake as a life threatening decision that I had to make was laid before me.

"My name?" he questioned, to which I nodded meekly. "It's Kim Taehyung, and I'm gonna need your answer now." he smirked, his arm raising higher.

"I suppose I'm not going to be a famous pianist anymore... I'll join you." I reached out a shaky hand for him to shake as a way to confirm my regrettable decision, and he grasped it tightly with a cocky smirk.

"Glad to have you on board, Miss. Musical Prodigy."

And that's how this whole mess started.

That's how I met him.

Kim

Fucking

Taehyung